(By Delegates Smirl and Adkins)
[Introduced January 15, 1996; referred to the
Committee on Banking then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-six, article six,
chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
increasing the time from thirty days to ninety days after
the termination of a marriage in which an insured may
request his or her own automobile liability insurance policy
with the same provisions as the former policy.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-six, article six, chapter thirty-three
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:

(a) In the event of death, legal separation or termination
of the marital relationship of the named insured, the named
insured or spouse covered by a motor vehicle liability policy for
a period of two or more years shall, upon request of the named
insured or spouse within thirtyninety days of the expiration of
said policy, be issued his or her own individual motor vehicle
liability insurance policy providing the same coverageprogram
and coverages as the original policy through the same insurer,
without any lapse in coverage: Provided, That any such named
insured or spouse may elect to increase or decrease the amount of
coverage in his or her respective policies without affecting any
privilege provided by this section. Any named insured or spouse
requesting an individual policy pursuant to this section shall be
entitled to the continuation of all rights and privileges
afforded by section one-a and section four of article six-a of
this chapter which were accrued under the original policy:
Provided, however, That this section shall not apply to any motor
vehicle liability insurance policy canceled, nonrenewed or
terminated pursuant to the provisions of section one or section
four, article six-a of this chapter.
(b) Insurers shall notify all named insureds at policy
issuance or the first renewal after the effective date of this
section and upon any change or termination of the policy for
reasons other than those provided in sections one and four of article six-a of this chapter of the right of the named insured
or spouse to continue coverage as provided by this section.
(c) The commissioner shall promulgate rules in accordance
with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
regarding the form of such notice and procedures required by this
section.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the amount of
time from 30 to 90 days that an insured has after termination of
a marriage to request his or her own automobile liability
insurance policy with the same coverage.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.

BANKING AND INSURANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

On page two, section thirty-six, line six, by striking out
the comma following the word "insurer", and on line seven by
striking out the words "without any lapse in coverage".